I haven't watched Hammer of the Gods, so Sword of Vengeance was a completely fresh and new impression for me. Frankly speaking, I expected (and feared) to see something alike Valhalla Rising, but fortunately I was wrong in my expectations.
Here we have not an art house movie, full of hidden meanings and symbols, but quite frank and straightforward story about vengeance (as you may guess from the title). Plot retains logic almost till the end, slightly (or completely, depends on the point of view) losing grip on reality in the final part. Would it stood firm until the ending credits, for me it would be one of the best films I saw this year. The Sword of vengeance is built on visuals, and by visuals I mean not only effects (which are mostly practical by the way) but the whole filming and editing thing. It's stylish, well-sustained and strong in every scene. In fact the visuals in this movie are self-sufficient, especially in combination with the sound. Plot, and even actors' performance may be put aside, neglected – and the movie still would look great.
In fact actors are not bad. I would say they did well enough, at least to stay on the level and not waste the good, almost perfect picture. The fighting scenes are good, but the lack of budget still can be seen through them, especially in large-scale battles. Director was careful enough not to exceed the scale beyond his limits, but these limits still were very tight. That's why from time to time we feel the lack of men in the shot and battles look sliced into separate pieces, which run separately from each other. In duels there are too many slow-motion that meant to hide simple, ascetic fighting choreography, and all the other scenes are tend to be static and mute.
Despite all of above-mentioned as a whole picture is good and gives you a good emotional impact. I guess, it's because of director's and operator's talents. As I've said already, would the writer to as good as them – movie would be very, remarkably good. No one would expect a complicated intrigue for a plot, but remain logical is crucial in such cases.
So the movie is good, but not as good as it could be – with just a slight script edition.
Tingnan pa 
